Many items are held together or held in place by threaded members, such as bolts, nuts and screws. These threaded members provide structure and stability, but do not prohibit theft of the object as the bolt or screw can be easily removed. While conventional methods exist for securing such threaded members, including, for example, use of locking nuts, such conventional methods do not provide for easy locking and unlocking of the object to allow for removal, maintenance, replacement or selective access.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a lock that can be adapted to fit a wide variety of objects that contain, or can be adapted to contain, either a threaded hole or a threaded stud member and thereby prevent theft, unauthorized use, or both. It is further desirable to provide a lock that can be universally adapted to secure either male or female threaded members of various sizes.